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After raising children, your home can start to become a storage unit for the things your child couldn’t or didn’t take with them. You can accumulate quite a few items from toddler year toys to teenage band craze posters or memorabilia in addition to items you’ve owned since before you were a parent. This is why it is essential to clear the clutter from your empty nest.

To prepare for your next phase in life as the parent of adult children, we have a few tips to help you bring a new level of order and organization to your home.

September is Healthy Aging Month. We understand the importance of a healthy home for older adults and want to help you create a place you can enjoy being the best version of you. The biggest concerns most older adults face are safety, accessibility, and sustainable independence. We have tips to help you or a loved one create a healthy home to age in place.

As your style and life changes over time, there are some items that are
essential for every room of your home and even your closet. For Baby Boomer’s
maintaining independence is a necessity for aging gracefully. Whether living
alone and aging in place or settling into a senior community, there are great
“must-have” products and items you should look for to make your space work for
you. If you want to shop smart, see our list to help you save
and spend more on the things you want to do.

Whether it’s gadgets like TV’s, smart speakers and cell phones or gear like fishing rods and sports equipment, the fact remains purchasing retail can be expensive and leave you displeased when it’s time to upgrade to something new shortly after your purchase. Markups on retail items are often between 50-500%. According to BusinessInsider.com, “[t]he reasons for steep markup prices depend on the product. It could be that the item is in high demand, is difficult to make, or holds a great amount of symbolic value.”

One way to purchase the items you love at reasonable prices is shopping resale for like-new quality at a fraction of the retail price. Quality gently used or resale items are appealing for more than price, quite often you can afford higher quality items with a smaller budget that will ultimately last longer.

For families who take an active role in caring for their loved ones,
monitoring and maintaining the best possible care can be a challenge. Decision
making and addressing daily needs can be complex for family caregivers. If you
have a loved one who is the primary decision maker for a family member’s care,
you can help support them to help them with their extra layer of responsibility
even if you aren’t directly involved with every decision made.

See valuable tips to help you stay in the loop with your
loved one’s care and be a pillar of support for any family caregiver in your
life.

Fall is quickly approaching and it’s time to get your home
and wardrobe ready for the upcoming season. Although Fall won’t officially
begin until the last week of September, now is the perfect time to shop resale
for Fall wardrobe and home décor essentials. From a checklist of items to the
perfect colors to look out for, we have your guide to must have Fall finds that
are perfect to find new to you (gently used) for your home, wardrobe or leisure.

For many families, summer is the most convenient time to move or help a loved one with a move. Since the warm weather is attractive to most people planning moves it can make the summer move season a bit hectic when finding resources to help facilitate your move. One way to ease the stress of the move is creating a plan. Use our tips to make your summer move smooth sailing.

Summer heat brings amazing summer savings in July and August. July is an unofficial midpoint to the summer season and often is the start to prices being lowered on anything you enjoy in warmer weather. According to financial experts at Kiplinger, products and services are typically “marked down at certain times each year. So planning your purchases to get items when they're at their lowest price can potentially save you hundreds of dollars.”

When you think of your parent’s well-being you often think of physical health and safety. One of the larger challenges many older adults encounter is loneliness in the form of social isolation. As we age, it may become difficult to stay social. Factors like the loss of loved ones and friends, mobility and overall health often impact how social older adults can be and create social isolation.

If you notice your parent or loved one could benefit from being social, you should encourage it. According to research by the Center for Advancing Health, older adults “who are socially active and maintain or increase interactions with others as they age have a slower progression of health declines than” those less socially engaged.

After living in a home for decades, a home can become packed with items connected to memories, amazing moments, and life events. When you visit your parents, you are more likely to notice the accumulation of items from 30, 40 or 50 years ago while they may not notice it. It’s possible they have become “clutter blind” since these items are associated with memories and moments. You are sandwiched between their belongings and your own.

If you want to help your parents let go of some of their clutter so they can leap into the next season of their lives, we have 7 steps to get you started.